3 Ways to Deal With Sharing a TV With Roommates

A gamer, a movie buff and a reality TV junkie walk into an apartment...—it sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but this scenario is real life for some people. And while we're sure this mashup of roommates brings about plenty of interesting questions and conversations (oh, to be a fly on that wall!), the toughest part of this setup has to be splitting up who gets to watch the living room TV.

The Why-Can't-We-All-Just-Get-Along'sSharing the TV isn't tough for these two; they're both reasonable and practical people. If she wants to watch the Golden Globes Sunday night, she'll make sure he gets plenty of time to play Call of Duty during the day.

The It's-Not-On-The-Chart-ersThe "get along" technique isn't for everybody, so if you need a more rigid plan, map it out. This pair of roommates sets up a schedule for their TV watching. One of them gets a block to watch The Office and 30 Rock, while the other has Sunday night reserved to play XBox Live with his far-away buddies.

The Double-The-Fun TeamThese two roommates have found that the easiest way to share is to not share at all. Each one has a TV in their bedroom with all the necessary peripherals. One girl can stream in a TV-on-DVD marathon on Netflix, while the other gets all the quiet time she needs to work through the tough plot lines on The Jersey Shore.

Where do you fit in with your roommates or significant other, readers? Do you use one of these methods? Something else? Tell us in the comments!